Editors’ Tom Smith announces debut solo album with “dreamlike, hopeful” single ‘Life Is For Living’

Editors frontman Tom Smith has announced his debut solo album with the new single ‘Life Is For Living’. Check it out below.

• READ MORE: Editors – ‘EBM’ review: brooding bangers show flashes of their very best

Smith released his debut solo single ‘Lights Of New York City’, in June, which saw him “temporarily” step away from the Mercury and BRIT-nominated band – whose seventh and latest album, ‘EBM’, arrived in 2022 – for the first time.

Now, he’s revealed the tracks are from his upcoming solo album ‘There Is Nothing In The Dark Which Isn’t There In The Light’, which will be released via Play It Again on December 5. You can pre-order here.

The acoustic guitar-led ballad sees Smith ponder the meaning of existence, as he sings: “Life is for living, anyway you want, life is for living, live it ‘till it’s gone.”

Speaking about the track, Smith says: “Iain [Archer, producer] and I stumbled across this line together, it felt like an empowering thing to say, and it spoke to the dreamlike hopeful nature of the song.” Check it out below.

Per a press release, the upcoming LP was motivated by “a desire to reconnect with the raw, acoustic beginnings of his songwriting”, with Smith seeking to create something “intimate and personal, away from the collaborative nature of his band projects.”

Smith has also unveiled the full tracklist for the album, which you can see below.

The ‘There Is Nothing In The Dark Which Isn’t There In The Light’ tracklist is:

‘Deep Dive’
‘How Many Times’
‘Endings Are Breaking My Heart’
‘Life Is For Living’
‘Broken Time’
‘Lights Of New York City’
‘Souls’
‘Northern Line’
‘Leave’
‘Saturday’

Aside from Editors, Smith has previously collaborated with Razorlight‘s Andy Burrows under the name Smith & Burrows. The duo have released two albums together: ‘Funny Looking Angels’ (2011) and ‘Only Smith And Burrows Is Good Enough’ (2021).

Editors have recently been teasing their eighth album. Last month, they shared a series of behind-the-scenes studio photos along with the caption: “First steps. E8”. The group uploaded a similar post this week with the same message. See below.

Last year, they were among the first acts to play a gig at the O2 Academy Brixton in London upon its re-opening following a fatal crowd crush in 2022.

They also pulled out of a scheduled slot at the 2024 Park Life festival in Almaty, Kazakhstan due to concerns over its Russian sponsor.

In a three-star review of their most recent album, NME wrote: “Unlike their early records, on ‘EBM’, Editors straddle heart-tugging hits with their now more familiar, visceral rock numbers […] ‘EBM’, then, goes some way to bringing the seasoned band back to what they do best, all the while pushing things forward.”

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